


and you are love - karlnap au

by kiwixwoman



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bisexual Karl Jacobs, Bisexual Male Character, Bisexual Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Bottom Karl Jacobs, Fluff, Gay, Gream - Freeform, Heavy Fluff, High School, High School AU, Jealous Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Karl Jacobs Needs a Hug, Light Smut, M/M, Smut, Soft Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), callahan is here also, dreamnotfound, i love callahan, i love karlnap and there arent enough karlnap au’s, karlnap, mcyt - Freeform, potential smut, soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:21:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29394729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiwixwoman/pseuds/kiwixwoman
Summary: Karl’s life was pretty quiet. His small group of friends and good grades were enough and he was happy with what he had. Until he met Sapnap. Suddenly, a whole new world opens up for him as he experiences what it means to fall in love.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Karl Jacobs & Sapnap, Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Karl Jacobs & Sapnap, Karl Jacobs/Sapnap
Comments: 14
Kudos: 140





	1. i see beauty in your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys! this is my first fic and i really hope you like it :) i love karlnap so much and i really love high school au’s so i wanted to make one. lmk what you think!!

The autumn wind blew through Karl’s hair as he made the short walk from his front door to his old Toyota sitting in the driveway. He shivered and ran his fingers upwards to fix the disheveled strands. It was way too early and all he could focus on was the crunch of the gravel as he dragged his feet. As he turned on his car, the heat blasted through the air vents and Karl let out a sigh of relief.

This was pretty consistent with every morning. Karl would wake up painfully early - sometime around 5:30 AM - to get ready for school. He would then slug through his morning routine of showering, brushing his hair and teeth, getting his stuff together, and heading out. He would pick up breakfast on the way to school and then meet up with his friends with just enough time to spare before the bell rang. He was perfectly content.

Karl was the ideal student. Captain of the Debate Team, Model UN, and head of the Video Game club while still maintaining straight A’s in all of his classes. He worked a few days a week at the local movie theatre and was even able to get his friends discounts, which they were very grateful for. So yes, the ideal student. To be fair, he just wanted to make the most of his Junior year.

Today was no different from the rest, he arrived to school about fifteen minutes early and noticed one of his best friends, George, sitting outside hunched over in the cold.

“Where were you, man? I’ve been here for like ten minutes,” George whined. “My nuts almost froze off.”

“You didn’t have to wait for me outside,” Karl giggled. “I’m pretty sure the doors are unlocked.” Karl looked around and noticed another student pushing open the main door to the school. George wasn’t the brightest of his friend group. 

George huffed out a breath and a cloud of water vapor escaped his lips. “Whatever.”

Karl chuckled at his friend’s early morning grumpiness. “C’mon, let’s go inside.” He beckoned with his hands and George jumped up at the invitation.

-

The bell rang signaling that class was over and lunch had begun. Karl packed up his notebooks and stuffed them into his backpack before giving the teacher a small smile and leaving the classroom. 

He held his backpack straps tightly as he navigated the halls and looked for his friends. He saw a blue beanie in the distance and smirked, knowing who it was immediately.

“Quack-meister!” Karl exclaimed as he shuffled forward and patted his friend on the head. “Hey, buddy. How’s it going?”

The person in question was Alex, Karl’s best friend since middle school. He gained the nickname “Quackity” Freshman year after an incident involving a duck and a video camera. To this day, people still made fun of him.

“Hey, Karl!” Alex smiled. “You look happy.”

“Yeah, I think I did really well on a pop-quiz in Bio this morning,” Karl said. He looked around and saw George and their other friend, Callahan, walking towards them.

“Hey, guys. Ready to head out?” George asked as he approached. Callahan gave a thumbs up accompanied with a small smile and George and Karl both agreed.

Karl was the designated driver for any friend group activity and that included lunch. They would all pile into Karl’s car and argue over where to eat.

“Chick-Fil-A is superior to Wendy’s!” George exclaimed.

Alex scoffed, “Okay, homophobe.”

“I’m literally gay!” George screeched.

Karl and Callahan giggled as George and Alex continued to bicker, constantly talking over each other. 

Eventually, they came to an agreement on Panera. Although not necessarily a middle-ground, it had enough options for all of them and it seemed to make everyone happy.

-

Karl’s car beeped in sync with his finger pushing the lock on his keys and they all walked into Panera. Lunch was an hour, so they had about half an hour to order and eat before they had to head back to school. 

Walking inside, Karl noticed that they weren’t the only kids from their school that chose to eat at Panera that day. Looking around, he spotted about 3 other friend groups.

Disregarding that, he looked up at the large menu to consider his lunch options before George nudged him and distracted him from his thoughts.

“Look,” George whispered. “That’s the guy I was telling you about.” Karl looked up and followed George’s gaze to a tall dirty-blonde man. Karl recognized him as the football team’s quarterback, Clay, and also a senior at their school.

Karl recalled a few days earlier when George was gushing about the “cutest guy he’s ever seen” and how he was “in love”. Because of the very basic descriptors George used, Karl wasn’t able to identify the subject he had been going on and on about until now.

“Oh, that’s him?” Karl asked. “I’ve seen him around, he’s pretty cute.”

George jokingly scoffed. “Hey! Back off!” 

Karl rolled his eyes and giggled. “C’mon, George, you know he’s not my type.”

“Oh, really?” George smirked. “What about the guy that’s currently staring you down?”

“Wha-?” Karl looked back up and met the gaze of another student he recognized, Nick. Also on the football team, he and Clay seemed to be close friends. He had seen them in the halls before, but had never payed very close attention to them.

The green eyes staring at him caught Karl off guard and his breath hitched. He had never really looked at Nick before and, oh my, he was very cute. This was a very new feeling and it captivated Karl in a way he had never experienced before. Karl wished he could close his eyes and that green would be the only color he would ever see again. Not to mention the soft brown hair that fell down and slightly covered Nick’s face. Karl had to resist the urge to walk over and brush it out of the way to be able to keep looking into his eyes.

George giggled and Karl’s eyes snapped away and back to the menu.

“Shut up.”

-

When school ended, Karl was relieved. It was Thursday and that meant the weekend was creeping up on him. 

He did his usual after-school routines like catching up on some reading in the library and heading to the movie theatre for a short four hour shift. 

Every so often, he would find his mind wondering to the eyes that had captivated him so heavily earlier that day. Karl had not known himself to fall into a crush so easily, so why had he let this happen? 

He had to shake the thought from his mind and carried on with his day, staying up a little later than usual to finish homework.

And as he drifted off to sleep that night, that same color green clouded his vision and rocked him to sleep.


	2. daydreaming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! thank you for the love on the first chapter. i wanted to quickly note that i am uncomfortable shipping karl and sapnap irl and this is only their personas, not the actual people if that makes sense. also! in this au sapnap is both older and taller than karl because i feel like it fits their characters better :) ty again <3

As the week passed by, Karl was so preoccupied with school that he almost forgot about his crush. Almost. 

That was until the next Wednesday when Karl was in between classes. The busy bustle of the school hallway made Karl’s head spin and he stepped outside to take a break from the overwhelmingness of it all. The crisp air refreshed his senses and he felt like he could breathe again.

He fidgeted with the side buttons on his phone as he looked around him. He watched as the wind danced through the branches of the nearly-bare trees causing some of the remaining orange and brown leaves to fall to the ground.

He missed the summertime when he didn’t need to wear a oversized sweater everyday to combat the cold and didn’t think too much about how much homework he had to get done.

Normally, he would use this time to find his friends and hang out with them before their next class. The days were wearing on him, though, and today he just wanted some alone time. He sat down on the nearest bench and shivered at the sudden cold. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a book he had been meaning to finish. 

“Hey.”

He paused. It was an unfamiliar voice. He looked up and suddenly he was making eye contact with the very same eyes that had been haunting his dreams. 

He took in how pretty the boy looked that day. His hands were in the pockets of his black sweatpants and he was wearing a simple white hoodie. A silver chain wrapped around his neck and Karl admired how good it looked on him. Even though the outfit was rather plain, it fit him so well.

Karl’s pulse quickened and he could feel his cheeks starting to heat up.

“Oh, sorry, were you sitting here?” Karl asked, embarrassed. He was intimated, but he couldn’t look away. Nick mesmerized him.

“Oh- uh,” Nick stopped for a second. “No, I just saw that you were alone and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Karl’s heart pounded and he prayed that Nick couldn’t hear the thumps.

“I’m okay. Just a long week,” Karl smiled weakly. “Thanks, though.” He didn’t know how, but he mustered up the courage to slide slightly to the left and glanced down at the empty spot beside him, a silent invitation for Nick to sit down. Nick smiled back at him and accepted. It felt very natural despite this being the first time the two had spoken.

“I’m Nick, by the way,” The older one started. “My friends call me Sapnap, though.”

Their conversation didn’t last very long. They talked about their different interests and Karl finally had the logistics of football explained to him. He watched as Sapnap’s eyes lit up when he talked about his passions and Karl basically melted. He wished they could sit there forever, talking about what made them happiest and getting to know each other, but it was the middle of a school day and he didn’t want to be late for his next class.

“It was really nice talking to you,” Sapnap smiled while looking down at Karl. Karl’s heart raced once again as he admired the pretty boy in front of him. “I’ll see you around?”

Karl nodded and stood up, grabbing his backpack. “Yeah, see you around.”

-

Karl chewed on the top of his pen as he desperately tried to stay focused in AP History. This assignment was important and if he looked away for one second he was sure to fall behind. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get the vision of the brown-haired boy out of his head and he was rapidly drifting off into daydreams centered around their conversation earlier that day.

When the bell rang, Karl jerked his head up. He hadn’t even realized that he was staring into space for the majority of the class with his head resting on his hand. He cursed under his breath as he realized that he barely payed attention and now was surely going to be lost when completing the homework later. Thankfully, it was the last class of the day and Karl could go home.

As he walked through the busy hallways, he spotted George standing by his locker.

“Hi!” Karl greeted. George looked up from his open locker and met Karl’s eyes.

“Hey, Karl,” George smiled. “Do you have work today?”

Karl opened his mouth to say ‘no’ when he felt a tap on his shoulder and spun around to see who was trying to get his attention.

It was those stupid green eyes again.

“Oh,” Karl smiled shyly. “What’s up?”

“You left this on the bench earlier,” Sapnap held up a book. Karl recognized it as his copy of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and he mentally facepalmed as he realized he forgot to put it back in his bag. “It’s a good book. Have you read it before?”

Karl shook his head. “No, but I’ve enjoyed it so far.” He reached out and accepted the book from Sapnap’s hands.

“Oh, well, tell me what you think when you’re done with it.” Sapnap smiled before turning on his heels and walking away.

Karl stood there for a moment processing the interaction before turning back to a wide-eyed George.

“Okay, what was that?” George asked and Karl giggled.

“It’s a long story.”

-

Karl ended up driving George home that day. George had gotten him to spill every detail of the interaction he had with Sapnap earlier and seemed to be more excited about it than Karl.

“Karl,” George said as they pulled up to his house. “I can’t even remember the last time you had a crush on someone.”

“I would hardly call this a crush.” Karl started. “Maybe a slight admiration.”

“Karl,” George’s tone shifted into a slightly more serious one. “Come on, you’re joking.”

“What?”

“I know you and I know that you don’t have crushes often. I know that you don’t date and I know that you barely think about other people in a romantic way. But, Karl, I know for sure that this is a crush.”

Karl felt his cheeks burn bright red. “How do you know?”

“You’ve been distracted all day. Alex and I noticed earlier, but we didn’t know why. Now that you’ve told me this, it all makes sense.”

“Well, how do you know when you like someone?” Karl hadn’t experienced this type of feeling before. It felt too soon for him to like Sapnap, he almost felt ashamed of himself.

George paused. “They consume your every thought. Your heart beats out of control whenever you think of them and no matter what, you can’t calm it down.” George smiled shyly and looked out of the window. “Something like that.”

“Oh.” Karl’s voice dropped to a whisper and he thought back to how much of his day was wasted thinking about Sapnap. “Well, damn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you guys liked this chapter! lmk what you think <3


	3. stargazing is better with you next to me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you guys like this chapter :) karlnap makes my heart melt

It was particularly cold Saturday and Karl was over halfway into a six hour shift at the movie theatre when he heard the door swing open and the sound of voices approaching. He stopped sweeping the popcorn and candy that had been dropped on the floor to look up. Immediately, he recognized Clay, the quarterback that George had been crushing on. He was with a few other people that Karl recognized from the football team. Despite working at the movie theatre for over a year, he had never seen them come in before.

He looked over and saw his coworker helping them at the concessions stand so he continued to sweep.

“Hey, Karl.” 

He looked up at the familiar voice and Sapnap stood in front of him, smiling.

“Oh, hey,” He blushed. He hadn’t seen him come in with the group.

“You work here?” Sapnap asked.

“Yeah, a little over a year now.” Karl shifted his weight to awkwardly lean on the broom handle.

“Nice, I haven’t been here for a while, but Dream insisted that we needed to come watch some stupid action movie.” Sapnap replied. “How long is your shift?”

“Only a couple more hours,” Karl sighed. “These shifts are so tedious.”

Sapnap gave him a sympathy smile. “Well, the movie we’re seeing is only, what, an hour and forty-five minutes, I think. What are you doing once you get off?’

Karl froze. Where was this going?

“Oh, um,” Karl stuttered. “Schoolwork, I guess.”

“Come on, it’s a Saturday night,” Sapnap laughed. He reached into his pockets and came up empty handed. “Hey, do you happen to have a pen and paper?”

Karl released the handle of the broomstick and let it fall into the wall with a soft thud. “I can get them for you, hold on.”

He walked back to the ticket booth and with shaky hands retrieved both items Sapnap had requested.

“Here.” Karl said, handing them to Sapnap. Their hands brushed and Karl could feel himself die inside.

Sapnap rested the paper against his palm as he scribbled something down and then tore off the paper surrounding it. He handed the small rectangle back to Karl. “After the movie, my friends are heading off, so I’m free. If you’re up for it, there’s a really great pizza place nearby. This is my number in case I don’t see you when we’re done.”

“Oh, okay,” Karl grinned. “Sounds like a plan.”

Sapnap flashed Karl one last smile before turning and walking back to the group, leaving Karl absolutely dumbstruck.

-

It was nearing the end of Karl’s shift and he was finishing up some last minute duties before clocking out. He made sure that his coworkers were set and it was a relatively quiet evening, so his manager told him he could leave a few minutes early.

As he walked out of the building and into the parking lot, he reached into his pocket to retrieve the small slip of paper Sapnap had handed him earlier that night. Smiling to himself, he pulled out his phone and created a new contact before entering in the numbers.

“Hey, Karl,” He let out a small yelp in surprise. He hadn’t been paying too much attention to the environment around him and was not expecting to hear his name being called. He turned and saw a giggling Sapnap.

“Sapnap!” Karl let out a huge breath of air. “You scared me.”

“I didn’t mean to, sorry!” Sapnap apologized, but still chuckled a little bit at the younger boy’s reaction. 

“Were you waiting for me?” Karl asked, slightly shocked. He thought for sure that Sapnap would either have forgotten or wouldn’t have wanted to wait for Karl’s shift to end.

Sapnap’s blushed. “Oh, um, maybe.” 

Karl’s heart melted as he studied the taller boy in front of him. He was wearing a black sweatshirt and that same silver chain from Wednesday. His rosy cheeks made him even cuter and Karl wondered how that was even possible.

Sapnap cleared his throat. “Well, uh, wanna get going?”

“Sure, I can drive if you want.” Karl offered with a small smile. “Still want to get pizza? I’m not that hungry but I’ll still go with you.”

Sapnap thought for a moment. “Y’know what? I’m actually not that hungry either. I know somewhere we can go that’s better, though. Come on.”

-

“The football field?” Karl asked in surprise. Sapnap had typed in the address into the GPS and Karl didn’t recognize it until they pulled up into the parking lot.

They both hopped out of Karl’s car and Karl shivered as the cold night’s air hit him. 

“Come.” Sapnap offered his hand and Karl shyly took it.

Although they hadn’t known each other for long, Karl trusted Sapnap. There was just something about him that was so endearing and Karl was obsessed.

Sapnap led Karl out to the middle of the field. Karl wasn’t one to go to football games and he hadn’t realized how large the area was until he was walking on it. He looked around him and admired how cool it looked under the night sky. There weren’t very many lights on, so the stars were really the only things that allowed Sapnap and Karl to see.

He was lost in his thoughts as they walked in comfortable silence. The energy between them was so peaceful and it was easy to feel calm. Karl felt eyes on him and looked over to see Sapnap staring. Both of them blushed and looked away.

Sapnap stopped walking and Karl was only reminded that they had been holding hands when Sapnap released his grip.

They both sat down and spent a while talking about their lives and interests once again. This time, though, their conversation felt different. It wasn’t in between classes and it felt as if they had all the time in the world. Karl never had something like this happen to him before. He had never been so into a conversation with someone else that time stopped and all he wanted to do was bask in the admiration he felt for the person in front of him.

Karl was going on about a book he had read that had left him frustrated. He ranted about the main character’s naivety in the face of love and let it slip that he had never been in love before, not to mention in a relationship.

“Wait, what?” Sapnap stopped him mid-sentence. “You’ve never dated someone?”

“No,” Karl looked down sheepishly and fiddled with the turf below him. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” Sapnap shook his head in disbelief. “I just don’t see how someone wouldn’t notice how great you are by now.”

Karl prayed that it was too dark for Sapnap to see his face turn beet red. “Oh, well, thank you.”

Sapnap let out a huge sigh as he threw himself backwards and sprawled out on the field, turning his attention towards the stars that littered the night sky. Karl sat there for a moment admiring how beautiful he was and Sapnap turned his head to look back at him. He reached out his hand once more and Karl gladly took it in his. 

“It’s so pretty out tonight.” Sapnap said quietly. “I feel like I never really get to watch the stars that often.”

Karl hummed in agreement. “Yeah, I’m usually too busy with school stuff to take a lot of time to myself.” He laid down next to Sapnap and felt his heartbeat quicken. He was close enough to feel the other boy’s body heat, but not close enough for their shoulders to be touching. It was comforting.

“I think that taking time for yourself is good. Self-care, y’know?” They both turned and made eye contact, their faces a little too close for comfort. Sapnap’s piercing green eyes made Karl feel dizzy.

“I tell myself that, but school still feels too important for me to be able to enjoy it without stressing myself out.” Karl explained, turning his head back to face the sky. He let out a sigh. 

Sapnap furrowed his brows. “Do you feel stressed now?” He asked, concerned.

Yes, Karl thought. But for a different reason. “Not so much.”

Sapnap squeezed his hand in reassurance. “Good.”

-

A few hours had gone by and Karl knew that he had to get home before his parents got worried. He wished the night didn’t have to end so soon, he wished that he could spend eternity laying on the field with Sapnap next to him.

He drove Sapnap back to the movie theatre parking lot since he had left his car there. It was the only time when he wished he would catch every red light on the way.

They sat in silence for a few seconds as Karl put his car in park and turned down the radio.

“We should do this again sometime,” Sapnap smiled. “I really liked it.”

Karl nodded in agreement. “Okay.”

Sapnap stared at him for a few seconds before blushing and looking away. “Well,” He sighed. “Goodnight, Jacobs.”

“Night, Sapnap.” Karl said softly.

Karl watched as Sapnap unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door before giving Karl a small wave and walking away, gradually leaving his eyesight.

Karl sat back in his seat and covered his face with his hands. He let out a loud groan. 

What the hell was that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i spent a really long time on this chapter and i'm really happy with how it came out :) lmk what you think <3


End file.
